Kurt Westergaard

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Kurt Westergaard (2015)

Kurt Westergaard (born July 13, 1935 in Døstrup , † July 14, 2021 in Copenhagen ) was a Danish draftsman and caricaturist . He became known in 2005 for one of the twelve Muhammad cartoons that triggered several assassinations and committed murders by Islamists, diplomatic conflicts and state-organized riots and attacks on Western embassies in Muslim countries with several dead worldwide.

biography

Westergaard was born on July 13, 1935 in the village of Døstrup, which is in Himmerland on the Danish Jutland peninsula . He grew up in a strictly Christian - according to his own statement "fundamentalist" - circumstances and attended Sunday school . In the 1950s Westergaard came into contact with Kulturradikalismus (kulturradikalisme) , a liberal cultural-political movement in Denmark, which he perceived as a “revelation” and a liberation from the religious submission of his childhood.

Westergaard was a teacher by profession. He received his training at the Ranum Seminarium. After working as a teacher for some time, he later enrolled at the University of Copenhagen to study psychology. He then worked as a teacher for disabled children and was the principal of a school for the disabled on the Djursland peninsula .

In the mid-1980s he became a cartoonist for Jyllands-Posten , for which he no longer worked for reasons of age from June 2010.

In 2010, Westergaard was awarded the Leipzig Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media for his contributions to freedom of expression and freedom of the press .

Westergaard was an avowed atheist and described himself as a “culturally radical and multicultural provocateur ”.

He died after a long illness on July 14, 2021, one day after his 86th birthday.

Mohammed cartoons

Westergaard's caricature of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb as a turban - one of twelve caricatures on the same subject published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005 under the title " The Face of Mohammed " - sparked international political controversy with worldwide demonstrations because Muslims felt offended.

It was only months after the publication that the partly organized and violent protests broke out in Islamic countries, in which more than 100 people died. Although his killing (and that of his colleagues) reportedly received $ 11 million in bounties, Westergaard defended his caricature citing freedom of expression in the West and found an apology unnecessary.

After specific murder plans against him, the draftsman and his wife were under massive police protection from the Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET) from the end of 2007 ; they had to keep moving and living in secret places. Westergaard said he was angry that an ordinary, everyday act like his drawing could lead to such insane reactions, the aftermath of which would last his life. An end to police protection was not in sight. In February 2008, the Danish police intelligence agency PET reported the arrest of several men in the city of Aarhus who were allegedly planning to murder Westergaard. The three men were two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan descent.

On New Year's Day 2010, the Danish police foiled an attack on Westergaard. A Somali asylum seeker smashed a window and, armed with a knife and ax, broke into the draftsman's house, where Westergaard was with his five-year-old granddaughter. Westergaard managed to escape in time to the bathroom, which had been converted into a shelter , to which the assassin could not gain access. The attacker also threatened the police officers who arrived just two minutes after the alarm was triggered, and was shot at and overwhelmed by them. According to the Danish secret service PET, the man had close ties to leading members of al-Qaeda in East Africa. At the beginning of February 2011, the perpetrator was sentenced to nine years in prison and subsequently expelled from Denmark. The defender put appeal against the judgment. On June 22, 2011 the guilty verdict was upheld by the Vestre Landsret (Supreme Court for Western Denmark) and the sentence was increased to 10 years with subsequent expulsion. The conviction was based on the terrorism section of the Danish Criminal Code in both instances .

For fear of possible consequences, ZDF canceled a TV conversation with Westergaard in May 2010. When Westergaard accused ZDF of self-censorship and the media criticized the unloading, he was allowed to appear on the show.

On September 8, 2010, Westergaard was awarded the M100 Media Prize by the M100 Advisory Board at the M100 Sanssouci Colloquium in Potsdam in recognition of his indomitable advocacy of freedom of expression and freedom of the press . Chancellor Angela Merkel presented him with the award. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany criticized the award ceremony. General Secretary Aiman ​​Mazyek said Westergaard " trampled our prophet in our eyes". Appreciation is highly problematic in a charged and heated time.

On October 8, 2010, Westergaard was awarded the Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media in Leipzig. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and her compatriot, journalist and regime critic Akbar Ganji , protested against the award. Ebadi said in an interview that she did not protest against Westergaard's invitation or against the fact that he was awarded the prize, but because she had not been informed in advance who would be awarded the prize. Ebadi and Gandschi were invited as guests to the media congress at which Westergaard was to receive the award. Ebadi announced that it would not attend the award ceremony; Ganji, the 2007 laureate, left without attending the congress.

In May 2012, Westergaard distanced himself from the use of his Mohammed caricature and his name by the Pro NRW party : "My drawing was a comment on freedom of expression, and I should only be associated with freedom of expression."

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Kai Müller, Christian Helten, Joachim Huber: Portrait: Kurt Westergaard - Drawing of Time. In: tagesspiegel.de . September 8, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b Line Tolstrup Holm: Med Fanden under fødderne. In: berlingske.dk . January 2, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 (Danish).
  3. ↑ a b Hans Drachmann: Tegneren har vendt frygt til vrede . Politiken , January 3, 2010, p. 2 (Danish).
  4. ^ Prize winner 2010: Kurt Westergaard. In: leipziger-medienstiftung.de . Archived from the original on November 9, 2016 ; Retrieved November 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Reinhard Wolff: Portrait Kurt Westergaard: The drawing provocateur. In: taz.de . January 4, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Mariah Leitisstein, Heine Jørgensen: Kurt Westergaard he død. In: Se og Hør. July 18, 2021, accessed on July 18, 2021 (Danish): "Dødsfaldet skete onsdag i denne uge - dagen efter hans fødselsdag (death occurred on Wednesday of this week - the day after his birthday)"
  7. ↑ a b Denmark: Police thwart attack on Mohammed cartoonists. In: Spiegel Online . January 2, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Denmark: Attack on Mohammed cartoonists foiled. In: faz.net . February 12, 2008, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Ingrid Meissl: The Danish police thwarted the attack on cartoonists - three suspects were arrested. In: nzz.ch . February 12, 2008, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  10. ↑ Alexander Budde : Assassination attempt on Mohammed draftsman foiled. In: tagesschau.de . January 2, 2010; Archived from the original on March 1, 2010 ; Retrieved November 17, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Somali has been put in Danish prison for nine years. In: nzz.ch. February 4, 2011, archived from the original on February 6, 2011 ; accessed on July 18, 2021 .
  12. ↑ a b Kristian Hedegaard: Øksemanden fik skærpet sin straf. In: tv2.dk . June 22, 2011, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  13. ↑ For example: Heinrich Wefing : Cowardice in front of the guest: The ZDF unloads Kurt Westergaard again. In: Zeit Online . May 5, 2010; Archived from the original on May 7, 2010 ; accessed on July 19, 2021 . Freedom of the press: Westergaard attacks the ZDF. In: ksta.de . May 3, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  14. ↑ Sebastian Hammelehle: Westergaard Posse at ZDF: Controversial cartoonist is allowed to Lanz. In: Spiegel Online. May 27, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  15. ↑ M100: Caricaturist Westergaard receives media award. In: focus.de . September 8, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  16. ↑ Mohammed cartoonist honored with media prize. In: Swiss television . September 9, 2010, archived from the original on September 12, 2010 ; accessed on July 18, 2021 .
  17. ↑ Katharina Graca Peters: Caricaturist honor: Merkel condemns planned burning of the Koran. In: Spiegel Online. September 8, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  18. ↑ «We don't like the caricatures by Westergaard either». In: tagesanzeiger.ch . October 8, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 . Carsten Lißmann: Mohammed cartoons: "Kurt Westergaard stirred up hatred". In: Zeit Online . October 8, 2010, accessed on July 19, 2021 (interview with Shirin Ebadi ). Katharina Graca Peters: Media Prize: Iranian intellectuals reprimand Westergaard honor. In: Spiegel Online. October 8, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
  19. ↑ Hannes Gamillscheg: Abuse of the Mohammed caricatures: “Under my sharpest protest”. In: fr.de . May 9, 2012, accessed on July 19, 2021 (interview with Kurt Westergaard).
  20. ↑ Danes scramble over the biography of cartoonist Westergaard. In: tagesanzeiger.ch. November 12, 2010, accessed July 19, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Westergaard, Kurt
SHORT DESCRIPTION Danish draftsman and caricaturist
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Døstrup
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Copenhagen